Curry and Klay listens to their coach. Harden don't. Mchale told Harden in the training camp, he was out of shape. Harden thinks he was the best player in the world and didn't agree with his coach. The rest is history. I think the WCF appearance and the stupid player awards which had Harden the MVP got into his head and he just feel like he is the best and only play his ways no the coach way.
No one expected Kerr, but he did learn from Popovic and Phil Jackson clearly. He was a sought after coach, no one understood why at the time but now we see why. One of the first things Kerr does is enable Green, Green was just some role player under Jackson and also all these other guys? Speights, Livingston, Barbosa? Journeymen, play under Kerr and they look 'Stacked' Barnes was a disappointment and looking like a bust. People always say "The Spurs draft so well." and it helps that you have a coach that realizes a players strengths and weaknesses and can exploit that. They draft in the middle of the draft, pick up journeymen, and are in the same position. Rockets on paper look great... I don't think Harden will ever be that off ball player, but he doesn't need to be. He just needs a team around him executing an offense. I think he'd be deadly with a great PNR big that can step out and shoot or finish.
Yep. I'm not discounting how historically good and efficient GSW is offensively. But, and especially with no Curry, how about having a freaking plan? I'm not an NBA coach... But at least I can come up with a plan. That plan would be hard doubles off screens. It's going to not work some too but this constant switching (or worse doing nothing and letting players be wide open off screens) is moronic. The bigs can't guard these guards and the constant mismatches confuses everyone else and then even when it works they aren't prepared to box out. They need to double screens hard and make the dribbler pick up his dribble and make a tough pass and rotate then as you typically would.
Harden is clearly the better SG. Has elements to his game that's completely missing from Thompson. Klay is more efficient but is a pure shooter and nothing more. Harden can carry teams has he's proven and can net triple doubles. 4th player ever to put up that many points/rebs/assists. It's not rocket science folks.
I keep telling Rockets fans that Barnes is a poor man Ariza and more of a Jeff Green. Barnes suck!! He gets more open 3's than anyone else. Rockets fan want to give this stiff a max contract. That's like giving Jeff Green or Ariza a max contract.
Barnes on this team with this coaching right now would suck. Just like most of these guys suck on this team. Why is it that guys FG% go down when they come here? Team is full of under performers.
I tend to disagree here a little. Klay is a pure shooter for sure and its his forte but people forget he can also score from other areas of the court. He cannot show it everyday because he is playing with an elite PG who feeds him the ball on various spotshooting places. I would say he is a good, old versatile shooter that will expand his game outside of the limitations His Defense is solid at times I guess.
That's the worst part about the switching actually, they switch and NO ONE helps out. They are just content with the mismatch and the guy getting beat. The team is broken mentally and fundamentally. They don't trust or help each other and then they don't see to ever know wtf they are doing. Shaq said it best earlier, they just do dumb things. Period.
Replace Harden with Klay and we would be in the lottery. I understand the defense Klay plays but hes no where near as good as Harden is on offense.
Harden easily owns Klay. Rememer, Harden is guarded by Draymond, Iguodala and Klay in this series, all of whom are elite to good defenders. Klay is guarded by Ariza who has regressed on D significantly. Harden is individually carrying this team's offense on his back night-in-night-out, whereas all Klay has to do is do his part as a cog in the machine. Klay is nothing more than a glorified spot-up shooter, and will never be the go-to-guy in a good team.
